Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Sunday through Saturday, La Bloga arrives daily on your virtual driveway with a ¡tlac! when you click that link bringing you here. Thank you for reading La Bloga.

In 2013, La Bloga completed our ninth year of daily publication, having met with over 975,000 readers in that time, who've looked at one and a half millon pages. This doesn’t count the eyes reading numerous mirror sites and aggregators who pick up our columns to run on their own feed. Interest in Chicana Chicano, Latina Latino literature, cultura, y más extends around the globe!

La Bloga welcomes Guest Columnists. If you have a book review, a cultural report, an extended response to a La Bloga column, we welcome your work. Click the mug shots at the top of the page, or here, to email your inquiry. Eight of La Bloga's eleven regular columnists started as Guest Columnists.

Consejos for the New Year

I send along the following consejos for the new year, in lieu of New Year Resolutions:

You deserve more. How much is up to you.

View "problems" as opportunities; this way you'll find ways to fix what's not satisfactory and define your own outcomes.

Have a plan, work the plan. If you fail, understand why, rather than be a clueless winner.

I’m a photographer whose memory holds onto the time and place of the good ones. It’s a treat to look at a photograph and remember the day, the light, the feel of the lens, the conversation with subjects. The twin murals in Happy Valley I photographed in the 1970s stayed with me.

Back then, I was still new to LA and stumbled across a road behind Lincoln High School that led me to a retaining wall back in the hills. Two murals were in progress, one of la Virgen, the other of Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl. While photographing the murals, two kids, teenagers, emerged to chat with me and agreed to have their portrait taken. I never got their names but their images remained vivid in mind. Every so often, I'd think about that wall, those kids, the baby in another foto.

What has become of these people, forty years after I snapped the shutter? I’d love to be able to give them a print of the foto, for my own sentimental value if not theirs.

This year I returned to the intersection to find Mary in tragic disrepair, el Huiclamina and his dead girlfriend painted over, the home where the teenagers lived an uninhabitable derelict.

Wonder of wonders, someone recognized the teenagers in the foto. “This is Marty and Gilbert Morales,” a Facebook viewer wrote, then another joined the conversation, and another. A bit of repartée engaged among the three people, on Marty’s fate.

A sad fact emerged, “Marty passed away 2/18/2013.” Three months later, I would run the Lupe of Happy Valley column.

I hope to find these adults in 2014 and give them a souvenir of their brother, qepd, and themselves. That would be picture perfect.

The Gluten-free Chicano’s Favorite Column of 2013

Being gluten intolerant is puro bad news no matter how you parse it, yet there’s a silver lining, in that The Gluten-free Chicano’s native diet, Mexican and Chicano food, is in large degree, normally and naturally gluten free.

Now, this is not to say gluten-afflicted gente can just order away at a restaurant. Sadly, almost every Mexican restaurant from El Lay to El Paso, Alburque to Phoenix, uses wheat flour to thicken red and green chile sauce. That should be against the law, and for sure, it's a sin, but there it is, wheat in the comida is ubiquitous, and everywhere, too.

Throughout 2013, The Gluten-free Chicano shared numerous recipes, from the naturally GF nopales y tortas de camarón, to a zucchini tortilla offered as a suitable analog for flour tortillas.

Last January 21, The Gluten-free Chicano featured menudo because, owing to the frequency of pachangas at this time of year, the table often includes, or should, a big steaming pot of menudo. And, for those who indulge heavily in spirits of the season, forget the hair of the tail, serve up a big hearty bowl of menudo for la cruda.

On-line Floricanto: Best Poems of 2013

Since 2010, La Bloga’s On-line Floricanto has been a reader favorite. In years past, Francisco X. Alarcón and his co-moderators of the Facebook group Poets Responding to SB 1070 Poetry of Resistance, nominated five poets for the weekly honor. Late this year, Alarcón’s team elected to go monthly with their nominations.

La Bloga sees this as a golden opportunity to spotlight the work of individual poets. In 2013, La Bloga On-line Floricanto enjoyed the immense honor of sharing the work of six of the nation’s best poets, Edward Vidaurre, Carmen Calatayud, Luivette Resto, Iris de Anda, Nancy Aidé Gonzalez, and Jessica Ceballos.

Each poet selects five pieces to illustrate the scope and beauties of her or his work, often from a recent book, or current chapbook. The results have been enchanting and unparalleled, earning a collective “Best Poems of 2013" for each of the poets and poems.

Monday, December 30, 2013

For this occasion, I am excited to share with
everyone the cover of my new chapbook, Noche
de colibríes: Ekphrastic Poems (pandora lobo estepario Press, 2014), a
recap about my poetry presentation in the city of Puebla de los Ángeles in the
state of Puebla in Mexico, about my visit to La Biblioteca Palafoxiana, and one
personal pendiente to read my short story about La China Poblana at her actual
house in Puebla.In addition, I want to wish
everyone a happy end to 2013 and all the best for the upcoming New Year
2014.

As for the year’s end and our new year, personally,
I feel thankful for such an incredible 2013.For me, it’s true that I’m always busy, as most of us all, and I love
simple details in the rush of a hectic day, such as enjoying a sunset, listening
to my mother on the phone or reading a text message from my father.

Noche de colibríes: Ekphrastic Poems

I cannot stop thanking all my editors, TL Press,
Mammoth Publications, Mouthfeel Press and pandora lobo estepario press, for the
great support of my work.I’m happy to see
finally my first short story collection in print, Lo que trae la marea/What the Tide Brings (Mouthfeel Press, 2013). I’m also excited about my new poetry
collections, a chapbook, Noche de
colibries: Ekphrastic Poems (pandora lobo estepario press, 2014), and a
full length book of poetry, Sílabas de
viento, both up-coming in 2014.

Several friends have asked me what I’ve been working
on lately, and at the moment I’m giving the final touches to my second short
story collection, not sure about the title yet, I have two in mind, but I will
certainly keep everyone posted on this development.

La poesía en Puebla

At Colegio D’Amicis in the greater area of Puebla, Puebla,
Mexico, I was invited to present some of my poetry on December 16, 2013 by and
along with poet, Javier Gutierrez Lozano. In addition to reading our own poetry,
we read the poems of the finalist for the first Concurso de Poesía D’Amicis (poetry
contest).

The sizeable audience that attended our poetry
reading notably impressed me. The 120
seats available were filled and there was standing room only.However, learning the event was voluntary for
students came as a significant surprise to me because of such wonderful
attendance.The event was open to the
public too, in addition to parents and several of Javier’s friends.

Immediately after reading our poetry, we had a
Q&A session and I was deeply moved by the observations and questions by the
young audience.For example, several
young women were deeply moved by my poem “Sihualt/Mujer”, from my book Conjuro (Mammoth Publications, 2012), since
they felt a strong connection to the central theme of women’s rights in this
poem.Several students wanted to know
more about “Yanga” and its rhythms in the poem itself.Additionally, “Yanga” was moving for one
particular student who noted his family connections to the regions of Mexico
where African ancestry has been more visible.

With regard for the school administration involved
in the Concurso and reading, I had the opportunity to meet Cristina Montes de Oca, President of
the Colegio, and Cristina González Mayorga, High School Principal.
I’d like to take a chance to thank them for their support for this event and
for what I understand is the beginning of an annual poetry contest and poetry reading.I’m looking forward to see the development of
this important event.

Of the school faculty, congratulations Javier for your
hard work and for developing the Concurso and reading. It’s wonderful to see your idea come to
fruition.

One of the several reasons I wanted to go to Puebla
was to visit La Biblioteca Palafoxiana.Previously,
I had tried on three different occasions over the last several years to visit
and was unable due to closures because of renovations.Finally on December 17, 2013, I was able
literally to walk through la Biblioteca Palafoxiana where it has been since its
beginnings.

Historically, La Biblioteca Palafoxiana was founded in
1646 by Juan Palafox y Mendoza.It was
the first public library in the Americas. It is located in the Antiguo Colegio
de San Juan in Puebla proper. In 2005, it was declared by UNESCO as part of the
Programa Memoria del Mundo. I certainly
enjoyed this treasure of Mexico.

El
cuento: “China Poblana”

One of my other personal motivations to visit Puebla
was to be able to sit in the house of La China Poblana and read my short story,
“China Poblana” from my short story collection, Lo que trae la marea/ What the Tide Brings (Mouthfeel Press, 2013).So, I did, and for that reason I’m also
thankful.

Sunday, December 29, 2013

There’s nothing quite as satisfying as unwrapping and
gorging on steaming tamales on Christmas Eve. Toasting them on a hot comal or frying
them in a cazuela the following days is also part of the tamal tradition. But anyone
who’s ever been part of a tamaleada, knows that making tamales is no joke. It’s
at least a two-day production and it takes a village because if you’re going
to make tamales, the unspoken rule is that you must make hundreds.

Why do we insist
on making so many tamales? Maybe we do it to feed everyone
we love. Maybe it’s our need to bond. Maybe
we want a damn good, homemade tamal and we don’t want to risk buying a bad or
mediocre one. Maybe we do it to preserve las recetas de nuestra familia or to
create new ones. Maybe we want to prove we’re really Mexican. Or maybe we do it because beneath all the layers,
we are simply masa.

For those of us who grew up in a tamal-making culture or family,
December is the Holy Month of Masa. ‘Tis the season for tamales. It’s true that
in some ways it’s always tamal season in LA. These ancient, culinary, hoja-wrapped
bundles can be found year-around on barrio street corners, parking lots, panaderías,
super mercados and restaurants. In the City of Angels, tamales nunca faltan.

Yet, those of
us who have masa in our DNA know that regardless of how ubiquitous
tamales have become in Los Angeles,
a real good tamal is really hard to find. Whether homemade or
not, tamales usually suffer from some type of masa issue. The masa is too thick.
The masa is too dry. The masa is too hard. The masa is too flan-like. The masa lacks
sabor. The ratio of masa to filling is highly
unbalanced. Or the masa is just not masa. (Side note: corn masa across the board
is most likely genetically modified, which is a masa issue so big in scope that
it requires its own separate and future blog).

In my opinion, the worst tamales
are the mass produced ones at Latino supermarkets and restaurants. The most
disappointing tamal I ever tasted was from a well-known Mexican restaurant in East LA that actually “specializes” in tamales. I recall
having this restaurant’s tamales as a child and yeah, they were pretty good,
but overproduction transformed the once delicious, homemade fluffy masa into a thick,
chewy, frozen and reheated mess. Massacre of the Masa.

Street
tamales are hit and miss. Sometimes they’re okay for the purpose at hand--a
quick, inexpensive meal that satisfies hunger on the go. But would I order them
for Christmas dinner? Probably not. A couple of years ago, I bought some excellent
pollo con chile verde tamales from a woman in the parking lot at the local Home
Depot. She was from Sinaloa, and she was selling her steaming creations out of a Styrofoam ice-chest in her car. Shhht! Shhhht! ¿Quieres tamales? Later at home, I peeled them open and admired the masa texture. They were spicy and scrumptious.
I went back soon after to order more, but she was gone. I have yet to see this fabulous tamal-making Sinaloense again.

When my father died this past September,
my siblings and I ordered tamales for his wake from a neighborhood señor and señora.
This couple, originally from Tlaltenango, Zacatecas, sells tamales out of their home and by barrio word-of-mouth. My eldest
sister, Anna, who knows a good tamal when she eats one, described this couple’s
tamales as “really good,” and that
was enough to convince the rest of us to purchase them for my father’s
despedida. Like crazy Mexicans, we ordered 400 tamales. There were only about
100 people, including children, at my father’s services, but the Tlaltenango tamales
were a smash. They all disappeared, and even the old-school, hardcore tamal-makers
from the Mother Country gave their seal of approval, which was comforting, since
my father really loved to eat and he would have been happy that we were
celebrating the end of his life with real good Mexican
tamales.

Our Family with a Big Picture of My Father, Who Loved Tamales: Photo taken by Maritza Alvarez

We were so pleased with the Tlaltenango tamales that we ordered them for Christmas. But as we peeled open our corn husks, we saw that something was different--the masa was thicker and a bit waxy. The meat filling also had more flame than flavor. They were, in the end, still decent tamales, but they were definitely not
as great as the last batch we had purchased. What could have happened to the once exquisite Tlaltenango tamales? Too many Christmas orders
for the couple?

In short, buying tamales is risky
business, especially on special occasions, and good tamales are hard to come by. This is why so many Latinos go corn-husk
and banana-leaf crazy over the holidays, roll-up their mangas, put on their aprons and make their own batches.
I admire and respect these tamal troopers, which brings me to the title of this
blog. I ate a lot of tamales in 2013--green chile, red chile, pollo, rajas, elote, mole, tamales en hoja de platano, tamales en hierba santa, tamales con hoja de aguacate, and the list goes on. Of all the tamales I devoured in 2013, The Best Homemade Mexican Tamal Award goes to (drum roll)….

For the past few years, my girlfriend and I have made it a
tradition to visit Sandra C. Muñoz in East LA and
eat some of her family’s tamales before heading over to Christmas dinner at my
sister’s. Blood may be thicker than water, but it is not thicker than corn masa.

Sandra’s primo, Miguel Campos, who Sandra refers to as The
Tamal Whisperer, prepares the masa and makes the traditional tamales of chile rojo
con puerco. When I asked Sandra what is the secret to their delicious tamales,
she said they buy masa preparada at Superior
or Super A like most people, but then they add “other ingredients.” Other
ingredients is code for more manteca.
“It’s all in balancing the masa and the
filling,” says Sandra, “and you also have to know how to spread the masa just
right so that when it cooks and you open the tamal, a thin layer of masa is the
first thing you can peel off the husk.”

Unlike Miguel’s, Sandra tamales are not so traditional. Miguel’s
pork tamales used to be my favorite, but for the past three years, Sandra has
created a new tamal every Christmas. Two
years ago it was bacon, cheese, and jalapeño. These are lip smacking good, especially
recalentados with a fried huevo and café. Last year, Sandra’s new tamal was
bellini and baby bella mushrooms with cheese. This delectable tamal is currently my
favorite. It's rich and buttery and at the same time light, since it's meatless. And this year, Sandra went really wild and
made blueberry tamales, strawberry tamales, and cherry and chocolate tamales.

Sandra's Tamales de Dulce

I must admit, I am not a big fan of sweet tamales and
when I first heard of the blueberry idea I was fascinated, yet doubtful. The outcome, though,
was pretty tasty, with pineapple chunks, raisins and pecans in the blueberry
mix. When I asked Sandra why she chose blueberry, she said she wanted
to venture into the sweet tamal realm and that she had originally thought of
making a peanut butter and jelly tamal, but there was
limited masa and she had to be selective. She also had several people question her idea of using blueberries. Blueberries, according to some, were too fancy and seemed out of place in a Mexican tamal. "Why too fancy?" Sandra asked. "What? Mexicans don't eat blueberries? That's stupid." So, being the rebel that she is she forged ahead with her blueberries and her masa.

Sandra's Raw Blueberry Masa

When I asked her where the
blueberries came from and if they were fresh or frozen, she stared at me, stretched out her arms and said in a sing-song voice, “From
the organic fields of the hidden valleys along the California Coast.
I picked them myself.” Then she cracked up and added, “Eh! Just kidding. I don't want to ruin it for you, but it’s
blueberry pie filling from the local supermarket.” What?! I was a little surprised, but it hasn't stopped me from eating Sandra's blueberry tamales or from being amazed at her unorthodox masa creations.

It’s not just
the blueberry pie filling, or the soft juicy mushrooms, or the extra manteca that gives the
Campos Muñoz tamales their flavor; it’s also la mano de obra, la bateada, la
energía, la creatividad and the team effort. Sandra’s sisters, Arcelia and Olga, and their cousin Dora
also help con la tamaleada. Dora se pone a embarrar endless hojas. Arcelia se pone a limpiar, which is no small task in a tamal-making kitchen. Y Olga a veces le entra al mole y a veces no. Either way, she's a professional tamal tester. La mera-mera matriarch of the familia, Doña Socorro, however, sits and observes. Sometimes she plays cards while the tamales steam. She looks at the clock, "Ya mero acaban?" They're using her kitchen and she wants to go to sleep. I love Doña Socorro. She is hilarious and hardcore. Sandra tells the
story of how her mother stopped making tamales as a protest many years ago. Sandra and other
family members committed a grave sin one Christmas eve by going to King Taco. They just wanted a few tacos, but Doña Socorro was furious that anyone would go eat at King Taco when there were fresh tamales at home that she had slaved over. As punishment, Doña Socorro vowed to never-ever make tamales
for her family again. It’s been about 20 years and she has kept her word. In the absence of
the matriarch’s tamales, Sandra and Miguel stepped up to the plate and continued
the tamal-making tradition. Bravo to them and to all the families who are continuing the tamal-making tradition, cada quien a su manera.

Saturday, December 28, 2013

What
did you get for Xmas? I got a hi-tech ergo chair that will delay the gout and
lumbar damage that comes from too many hours on the computer. I also got
chingos of stuff in my stockings. Here's a sampling:

Santa Junot Díaz put this in
my calcetín:

At
LatinaLista, you can read what happens when two Mexican-American primos in San
Jose, California become Latino superheroes--the stars of their own comic book
series!

Aztec of the Cityfollows the brave exploits
of the two cousins as they defend and protect their city from evil forces in
the year 2019. A bi-national effort, the comic book series’ illustrator, lives
in Mexico while the writer is based in San Jose, California. Read more, including about ordering it.

From Spec Santa Thea
Hutcheson into my stocking:

A
Denver spec writer and friend of mine won the Apex Publications Christmas Flash
Fiction contest, I mentioned earlier. Thea Hutcheson's 1-page story Stockings Hung on the Hearth is a great
piece of emo. Read it to your guests and kids.

A Santa judge in AridZona
put this in our progressive calcetín:

The
notorious immigrant-hating sheriff, Joe Arpaio lost a court case and Justice
won out. From the article, New Times blog Co-Founders Win $3.75 Million
Settlement for 2007 False Arrests:

"The
New Times blog co-founders announced
that they will use the settlement proceeds to "help those who fight the
good fight against government actors who attack the most vulnerable among
us." Included in this list of recipient organizations are the Arizona
ACLU, the Florence Project, and Puente. A contribution also will be made to the
Electronic Frontier Foundation to help protect Internet free speech."

This
is for Latino, and other, writers just breaking into publishing, especially spec.
Shvartsman described two publishing sources that he (and I) recommend. Check
these out for 2014 opportunities for getting your fiction published. He
explains why:

"This
is a quality magazine that is extremely
supportive of diverse voices as well as new authors. They began to pay
professional rates and are now holding a subscription drive in order to
continue to publish and to pay writers fairly in 2014. Click for more details.

"The
fine folks at Diabolical Plots have created an excellent alternative service
called The Grinder, committed to keeping it free for everyone. While the
Grinder is new and does not yet have the volume of users of Duotrope, they are
growing fast and a much greater percentage of their users are neo-pro SF/F
writers, and so the data for markets is generally as reliable or more reliable
than Duotrope, even with fewer people reporting. They constantly update
the site, introduce new and innovative features, and are extremely open to
feedback. All in all, I am very thankful for the service they have provided to
the SF/F writing community this year, and I encourage those of you who can
afford it to kick in a few bucks and those who cannot to support them by
uploading your submissions data, therefore improving the accuracy of their
database."

When
my wife and I were in Portland this year, we didn't get in the long lines at
this over-the-top-American-excess shop. But now we can do it in Denver. This
place is on Sedano's gluten kill-list, but if you can get an okay from your
cardiologist, here's some of the terminal offerings:

With
the Tex-Ass Challenge doughnut, you can skip your next blood-pressure test:
Giant Doughnut equals 6 dougnuts. If you eat this in 80 seconds or less, you
get your money back! [But not with your arteries cleared.]

If
your familia gatherings also gave you a flu or cold, you might check out this guide
"for getting fkd up on over the counter medicine for as long as is socially
and medically acceptable.

"Theraflu
- This stuff is incredible. While the daytime stuff surely will do a number on
your cold or flu, the nighttime stuff sends you on a wild goose chase of
drug-induced joy that will make you feel as if you're living in the soundtrack
to the movie Drive.

"Airborne
- Completely doesn't work. Might as well just hand someone $8 and tell them to
slap you in the face with it. ZICAM has a cool name and works really well
for about an hour before completely giving up.

"Chicken
Soup - What could be better than a nice hot bowl of nutritious and wholesome
chicken soup to make you feel better? A lot of things. Most of them are
available over the counter. Save your soup for when you want to write a
dystopian novel by candlelight.

"Cold-Eeze
has Zinc in it. You know what else has Zinc in it? Nickels. Eat a bag of
nickels.

"Vicks
- Do you like having a chest that smells like a permanent marker?

"Hot
Toddy - two shots of whiskey (floating in as much hot water) masquerading
as a seasonal beverage. The water keeps you hydrated, while the whiskey gets
you drunk enough to forget you have the flu."

Friday, December 27, 2013

Periodically here on La Bloga I offer writing tips from writers - advice like "cut your beautiful sentences" (Georges Simenon) or Elmore Leonard's "leave out the part the readers will skip." For my end-of-year post I've collected helpful advice from a variety of writers that is either something they've learned through their own experience or something they picked up from someone else that they now want to pass on to help other writers -- exclusively on La Bloga! These eleven authors have proven track records -- best-sellers, awards, reader popularity -- and they are all friends of La Bloga. Many have been interviewed or spotlighted by La Bloga and several have contributed their own thoughts to La Bloga articles. I appreciate the great cooperation and honest advice and guidance these writers have contributed by taking time out from busy holiday schedules to offer a bit of wisdom to newer, less experienced or soon-to-be writers. Actually, I think any writer, of any experience level, can benefit from the insights of colleagues and friends. It never hurts to take stock, as they say. This is a terrific way to start 2014.

You might think about saving this column on a flash drive or, if you're in a retro mood, printing and sticking it on your bulletin board for future reference. Especially for those late nights or early mornings when the words refuse to cooperate. Just sayin' ...

"This is a football." That's what Vince Lombardi said in his famous speech when tasked to turn the Green Bay Packers from losers into winners. Lombardi was emphasizing the need to get back to basics and in doing so, he wasn't telling his players anything they hadn't heard before. With my advice I'm not telling you anything new but with all the noise surrounding writing and publishing it's important to reflect on the fundamentals. Nobody knows nothin'. For every hard and fast rule the writing pundits throw at you, there is always a successful exception. And most of these pundits have never published anything. Write the kind of stories that invigorate your juices and don't apologize about them. Steampunk zombies? Dinosaur erotica? Inspirational space poetry? Go for it.

Read a lot. Write a lot.

Don't get discouraged. Success has its own schedule. I've seen many stories sit unloved for years and then wham! -- the magic happens. But if you don't write, nothing will happen. Stop making excuses. If writing is important to you, then do what it takes to finish your stories.

Mario Acevedois the bestselling author of The Nymphos of Rocky Flats, X-Rated Bloodsuckers, The Undead Kama Sutra and other titles in his popular Felix Gomez private eye series. A former infantry and aviation officer, engineer, and art teacher to incarcerated felons, he also has published short stories and graphic novels.

Save the baby! Don’t throw it out with the bathwater.
Often when I write, part of my brain is saying “This is the worst thing I
have ever written…” over and over again. Don’t throw it away. Put it
away until the next day, when you will find a word here, a phrase there,
that can be salvaged and worked into something new. Same with longer
pieces: put them away for a week or so, then go back and edit them into
shape.

Kathleen Alcalá is the author of five
books set in the Southwest and Mexico. She will be an honoree ofCon Tinta
along with Jesus M. Maldonado in 2014 at the AWP Annual Conference.

I was 24 and going through a very painful divorce. I weighed 93 lbs. The nurse at my doctor's office gave me a priority card to display on my refrigerator door. It said: "When all else fails, eat." Three years and 25 lbs. later, I felt it was time to put away the card. By then I had been writing poetry and short narrative for awhile and knew that I was, and would forever be and want to be, a poet and a writer. A few months later, I replaced it with a new priority card, with my own advice on it: "No pretexts. Don't get to your deathbed saying, 'I could have written.'" It still greets me from its place on the wall I face every day as I sit down to write.

Lucha Corpi: "Although this confession is written exclusively for La Bloga, look for other stories and personal essays in my new book, Confessions of a Book Burner, available March 31, 2014, from Arte Público Press."

Don't get caught in the trap of thinking your writing is good because your friends and/or spouse think it is good. Unless your friends are professional writers and/or editors, their opinions don't count. Be professional and don't rely on biased feedback. Sarah Cortez is a member of the Texas Institute of Letters, and the author/editor of nine books, ranging from lyric poetry to crime fiction to memoir. She has published and edited for Akashic Press, Arte Público Press, and Texas Review Press. She writes for the young adult market and the adult market. ______________________

Don't take yourself seriously as a writer, take yourself sincerely.Tim Z. Hernandez is a poet, novelist, and performance artist whose awards include the 2006 American Book Award, the 2010 Premio Aztlán Prize in Fiction, and the James Duval Phelan Award. His latest book is Mañana Means Heaven. ______________________Rolando HinojosaRead. Read. Read. Read everything--trash, classics, good and bad, see how
they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies
the master. Read! You'll absorb it. Then write. If it's good, you'll
find out. If it's not, throw it out the window. This isn't mine; it's Faulkner's. I always pass this on to beginning writers.

Rolando Hinojosa is the acclaimed author of the seminal Chicano novels known as the Klail City Death Trip Series. He says this about his current project: "Am working on what may be the final novel in the Klail City Death Trip Series.
It will involve graft on both sides of the Rio Grande with no preaching
on my part. A straightforward tale involving a crooked governor on the
Mexican side and the help furnished by Buenrostro and his crew who
investigate the doings by elected officials in Belken County."______________________

If you didn't write today, don't feel bad. There's always next lifetime to be a successful writer, right? Or, the more you write, the more you write. Which may sounds ridiculous but which makes sense when you do it.

R. Narvaez's book, Roachkiller and Other Stories, received the 2013 Spinetingler Award for Best Anthology/Short Story Collection and the 2013 International Latino Book Award for Best eBook/Fiction.

Two quotations: the first, from Doris Lessing, has guided me whenever I
felt overwhelmed by the empty page or blank screen in front of me. She
wrote in The Golden Notebook, "What does it matter if you fail? Why
are you so arrogant? Just begin." The other is attributed to Gandhi
and helps me through those moments when I wonder why I bother to write
books that almost no one will read. He said, "Whatever you do will be
insignificant, but its is very important that you do it."Michael Nava is the author of an acclaimed series of seven novels featuring gay, Latino criminal defense lawyer Henry Rios that won seven Lambda Literary Awards. His forthcoming novel, The City of Palaces, is set in Mexico City in the years just before and at the beginning of the Mexican Revolution. It will be published this spring by the University of Wisconsin Press. He can be reached though his Facebook page, “Michael Nava, Writer” or his website: http://michaelnavawriter.com

In 1997, my writing buddy, Alicia Gaspar de Alba, recommended a book that became vital for my writing process--A Writer's Time: Making the Time to Write, by Kenneth Atchity. He offers a number of tidbits including: churn out the first draft without stopping to revise; when you begin the revision process, cut off the fish head, meaning, about the first 30 pages are background, hence a slow start. Cut them! The key advice, however, is: DISCIPLINE, not a muse and not talent, but sustaining a schedule and showing up daily to write. Finally, remember that writing is a craft to be learned. I believe that if you work at the craft, you'll see the rewards in your final draft. I also believe in emotional truths, excavating your psyche to unravel things that you ordinarily wouldn't want to share. Those are the emotional truths that resonate for us as writers and readers and will contribute to your own unique voice.

Write about your community, but dig deep, dig into taboos, dig into the unsaid. The biggest fight you will have will be against self-censorship, and if any writer criticizes you for not being an 'authentic Latino or Latina' or an 'authentic Chicano or Chicana,' they are simply trying to control you and censor you. There is no such thing as an authentic Latino/a or an authentic Chicano/a, and our community needs and demands a variety of voices. Work on your craft first by reading widely, reading poetry if you are not a poet, or reading fiction if you are not a fiction writer, or reading Russian literature after you have read Latino literature. Work on your craft by understanding your weaknesses, and focusing on them. Work on your craft by experimenting with your prose and sentence structure (the micro), and by trying out different modes of storytelling (the macro). Finally, writing is not about becoming a personality, or getting a lucrative book deal, or acquiring groupies. That's the power going to your head. Writing is about exploring ideas, psyches, ways of being. Writing is about opening up a space that has never been opened before.

Sergio Troncoso is the author of five books. From This Wicked Patch of Dust was chosen as one of the Best Books of 2012 by Kirkus Reviews, and Crossing Borders: Personal Essays won the Bronze Award for Essays from ForeWord Reviews. A new, revised version of his novel, The Nature of Truth, will be published in 2014. He is a resident faculty member of the Yale Writers' Conference.